


Underwater

by Kynthiaxa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Drowning, F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Goth Keith (Voltron), Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, POV Keith (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), POV Third Person, References to Depression, fear of storms, mermaid lance (voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 03:59:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14845281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kynthiaxa/pseuds/Kynthiaxa
Summary: A 19 year old Keith Kogane is living with his older brother, 23 year old Shiro, in a small wooden shack near the coastline of Texas. Keith loves to go down to the ocean and watch the waves, he loves to stare at the translucent blue water in front of him, and he loves watching the sea creatures swim past him. But, despite his love of the ocean, Keith will never swim in it. He will never swim period. End of story. Absolutely never. So, how exactly will Keith find the beautiful stranger he saved on the coastline, the one with the blue fish tale and gills, if the stranger lives in the very thing he promised never to go near?





	1. Sapphire Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sheksper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheksper/gifts).



> This is a story that I've wanted to write for, like, forever. Not too many people have written stories with a mermaid Lance and I'm honestly shocked. So, why not write one for myself?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little angsty Keithy boy gets into another fight with his bro. Luckily, he finds a certain someone who makes him smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this story brings a few people some joy! I love writing, so I hope someone out there loves my writing.

It was a normal, boring day, just like any other. Keith Kogane could be found laying in his bed playing with a knife, per usual, with a regular grey t-shirt and black pants. His messy hair made him look as if a rat had made a nest on his head. Yeah, Keith couldn't have cared any less. It wasn't like anyone was going to see him. Other than Shiro, or maybe Allura and Coran if they decided to come over like they usually did, but who cared? They'd seen him like this so many times before, so why was this time any different? Trick question: It wasn't. This was another scorching hot day with a temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit.  _Yay_. Not that Keith cared because he had _air conditioning_. Keith heard the door open and a few muffled voices outside his door. Thank God Shiro had been able to fix that door after Keith had kicked it in. So Keith had an anger issue, what else was new? Then Keith heard footsteps coming close to his door. And cue the big brother voice:

"Keith, get out of your room. It's time to socialize." Shiro knocked on the door. Thank God Keith had locked that door, or Shiro would be dragging his sorry ass out of the room by now. Keith didn't move, didn't make a sound, and didn't breath, just hoping - praying to whatever God there was up in that sky - that Shiro would walk away. God failed him.

There was a louder knock accompanied by a cheerful voice.  _Oh good_ , Keith though whilst rolling his eyes,  _they brought the mac-and-cheesy uncle to the party_. "Come now, Keith my boy, it is time to come outside of that musty old room of yours and say hello!"  _God_ , Keith hated that high pitched voice. And the accent.

"Go the hell away," he shouted. Unfortunately for him, letting the two men know he was actually in the room caused them to start pounding on the door like fucking maniacs.  _Great_.

"Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith!" Shiro and Coran chanted, almost in sync. Almost. The pounding on door grew louder and louder with each time they chanted Keith's name. It was so annoying.

"Come on Keith! Let us go and search the beach for sea shells!" Coran laughed loudly. Keith snarled and growled at the same time. 

"Keith, you sound like a bear. Let's go. Get your angsty head out of your ass and get out of your room before I have to break the door down." Shiro wasn't one to swear, so the fact that he was now becoming angry made Keith smile. He loved annoying his older brother, especially when his girlfriend was over and Keith had the ability to embarrass him. God, it was so much fun.

Keith laughed silently and put on his best angry teen voice and made a loud, exasperated sighing noise. " _Ugh_ , Shiro stop being such an asshole-"

"Language!" Shiro shouted through the door. "And, Keith, stop being such a nuisance and get out here  _now_!" Shiro groaned when Keith sighed again, louder this time, and made a noise that sounded like he was choking.  

" _Oh no, my big bro cares about me, but I'm too angsty to care_!" Keith snickered when Coran was the one to step in this time. "That's it, little Red, gloves off." And that was when Coran turned from annoying to fucking unbearable. He began slamming his shoulder into the door and making the most weird and gross noises. Keith was surprised when Shiro joined in and started sounding like a dying hippo. And Keith would know what a hippo sounds like because he loves his hippos.

"Oh my God! Get the fuck away from my door!" Then came the quietest, most gentle knock, and then the baby voice. Cue the older brother's mastermind girlfriend who was great at manipulation:

Keith could tell Allura had her hands folded gently across her chest like some off-brand Disney princess. "Oh Keith! It's such a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining and we've all been so anxious to see you. Coran and I traveled all this way, a full thirty minutes, to spend time with you and Shiro. It would be so tragic if you spent the day wasting away in your room. Please come hang out. Or at least just come out and say hi to us before we all go to swim." And the light in Keith's heart flickered on. Keith never went swimming with them, so why not just say hi and get it over with?

He flipped off his bed and laid the knife down gently on his bedside table, almost knocking down a picture of his mother. When the picture in the golden frame almost fell, Keith almost had a heart attack. He grabbed the picture frame by the edge and sighed as he inspected it and saw there was no damage done. Keith looked at the picture, tracing an index finger over his father's face, then touching his mother's face with the most gentle rub of his thumb.  _God_ , he missed them more than anything else in the world. The worst part, for Keith anyways, was that he had no way of knowing anything about his parents now that they were gone. He would never know if they had truly wanted him, he would never know if they truly loved him, and he would never know exactly how they died.

Another soft knock came through the door, but not from Allura this time. It was from Shiro. "Keith, buddy? Can I come in?" Keith didn't answer. He felt tears as hot as acid running down his face. Keith always cried when he thought about his parents, but he couldn't let Shiro see that. Keith rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah." 

Keith walked over to his door and slowly unlocked it. Shiro was there, his white strands of hair dangling loosely over his forehead. Keith sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.  _Why now? Why can't I just get over it?_ "Keith." Shiro said impatiently.

" _What_?" Keith snapped. Shiro put on his big boy pants and did the "Dad Look." The one Keith personally hated. "Don't pull that bullshit on me, Shiro. You're the one who came fucking barging in the house and decided to get your girlfriend and your other dumbass friend to pound on my door. If I don't wanna come out of my room then leave me alone. I'm an adult and you aren't the fucking boss of me." 

And that was when Shiro put his dad voice in motion. It was at this moment that Keith knew:  **He fucked up**. 

"Oh  _are you_? You think you're an adult, Keith? You think I'm not the boss of you? Okay then. Tell me, Keith, how old are you?" Shiro demanded, taking another footstep inside Keith's room. Keith backed up, arms still crossed, and scowled.

"I'm 19." He murmured.

"Oh  _really_? 19 huh?  _Such_ an adult. Try being 23, why don't you Keith? How about being old enough to take care of people? How about being old enough to keep proper relationships? How about being old enough to take care of _yourself_? Because that's obviously something you are really bad at. You don't come out of your room  _ever_ , you don't make friends, you don't even like the sunlight, for God's sake." Shiro shook his head and rubbed his temples.

Keith decided to be an angsty little teen shit and rolled his eyes. "The fuck are you trying to say, _Shiro_? You trying to say I'm a vampire or something?" 

Shiro laughed curtly. "Keep rolling those eyes, Keith, and you may find a brain back there. And I'm saying start taking care of yourself and learn how to be grateful because I'm done playing this stupid game of house." Shiro stormed out of the room. Keith frowned and scoffed. Shiro's head came back into the room for a split second saying, "And watch your language, dammit."

Keith knew he was pouting, he knew he was being over dramatic, he knew he was being a little shit, but why should he have cared? Shiro wasn't his dad. Shiro couldn't control him. And besides, Keith had been the one to pick out the house. Yeah, it was far away from anybody else, but that had been what they were looking for back then. They had been looking for a place far away from anyone else. They had been looking for a place where Keith couldn't get hurt anymore. Where Shiro wouldn't have to work 24/7 to keep a tight ass apartment for the both of them. This had been what Keith had found. A small wooden shack on the coast of Texas, a place where they could watch the moon come out and they could see the tides crash against the beach. This was their paradise and this was their home. Yeah, Keith never left the house. He had no reason to. Why hang out with people in general? They all sucked anyways.

"Keith, come on out now~"  _Oh God_. Keith heard Coran from down the hallway and stopped breathing. He knew that voice. That was the voice Coran used when he was going to make Keith go somewhere with them. "Let us have some bonding time as one big, happy family~"

Keith launched himself over to the door and slammed his body into it, making a huge  **BANG** as it rammed against the door frame with such force that the door frame cracked. Keith locked the door again and slid down to the floor. This wasn't how today was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a regular, boring, uneventful day, and now it was being ruined by Shiro's stupid friends. Keith heard Coran turning away and then there was the sound of loud footsteps coming down the hall. 

"Shiro, calm yourself. Just leave him be if he will not comply-" Allura's soft voice sounded far away as the loud footsteps grew closer.

The footsteps reached the door and Shiro's pissed growl reached all the way into Keith's blocked out mind. He didn't want to listen. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere near this God awful place they called home. He wanted to get away from it all. Then Shiro spoke. "I don't care if he doesn't want to comply. He's going to and that's final." Shiro slammed his body into the door and made a loud grunting sound as the impact shook the room. "Keith, open the door!"

There was more banging of fists and shoulders, and Keith was standing up now. He had his hands covering his ears as his older brother began losing his cool. "Ugh, Keith-" Shiro stopped to pant. "Just grow up and open the door! Let me in!" But Keith didn't want to let anyone in. He didn't want anyone to see as the tears that had been threatening to leave Keith's eyes were suddenly making an appearance. Nobody should see him like this. So _weak_ , so _pathetic_ , so  _disgusting_.

Keith frantically searched his room and found his only real way of escaping, other than letting his older brother in and going outside to see the sunlight and real people,  would be through his unlocked window.  _Well shit_ , Keith thought. Keith launched himself off over to the dresser and sighed. He wiped his face and laughed halfheartedly. "Never thought I'd have to do this again," 

Yes, Keith had climbed out windows plenty of times before. Yes, sometimes it had been for reasons he wouldn't explain to anyone other than Shiro. Yes, sometimes it had been because he had a problem with communicating his emotions. So Keith was practically an expert on climbing out the window, but that didn't stop him from having trouble doing it again for the first time in seven months. Keith basically kicked the window open and jumped through the frame, but not before grabbing his switchblade on the way out. He didn't care to close the window on his way out, all Keith cared about was getting far away. Far away from Shiro, far away from Allura and Coran, far away from the shack, and far away from his emotions. But Keith had no clue why, if he had wanted to escape from his emotions, he brought his  _mother's_  knife. The knife she used during the war she'd been in when she was pregnant with Keith. Then Keith was sick of thinking. He shook his tears away and started jogging, then running, then sprinting away from the shack he and Shiro lived in. He didn't care anymore. He didn't want to care anymore. He wanted to be numb. 

Keith ran as far as he could, taking huge steps each time he lifted a foot, making sand kick up behind him. Keith felt tears sting the corners of his eyes as he raced across the coastline. People who had been swimming close by looked at him with puzzled faces, but Keith ignored them He ignored everyone. Why should he care what they thought of him? He didn't know who they were, and they didn't know who he was. Keith didn't need them judging him too. His brother already saw him as a failure, he had no friends other than Coran and Allura, and they were only his friend because he was Shiro's brother. Nobody cared about Keith. Nobody cared about the orphaned boy whose parents died tragically six years after he was born. Nobody cared about the boy who so desperately wanted to know how his parents died. And nobody cared that the little orphaned boy hated himself enough to jump into the ocean and never resurface.

After a few hours of running, running away from everything and everyone, Keith had to stop. He knew it had been a few hours because the temperature was dropping and the sun was starting to set and there were no more people on the coast. Keith found himself sitting on a rock a few feet from the shore. The sunset was making the water shimmer a golden color and the waves were reflecting golden flecks onto the sand below. The water was so clear that Keith could see tiny minnows swimming about happily amongst the shallows. Keith wished he could be like that. Keith wished he could go out with Shiro, Allura, and Coran and swim with them everyday. But he couldn't. He just  _couldn't_. 

Keith laid back against the rock and looked up to the sky, the stars just barely starting to appear in the sky. He pulled the switchblade out of his pocket and twirled it between his fingers skillfully. He'd done this so many times, just staring at the sky thinking about his mother. She used to tell Keith all about the switchblade; how it had been carried down through generations, how Keith's mother had killed so many soldiers using the very knife he held in his hands. It was showered with the blood of war soldiers, soldiers with families, soldiers who had lives left to live, but never got to. All because Keith's mother had to protect a child she hadn't known yet. Keith carries that weight on his shoulders now, he carries the switchblade to remember how many lives were lost at his own mother's hands. Krolia Kogane had been a mother till the end; Keith hated it.

"Peace and quiet at last. No more Shiro, no more Coran, no more Allura. And no more _parents_. Don't think about anything, Keith. Just relax and be calm." Keith's own words soothed him and calmed him down enough to let him focus on only one thing: Stargazing.

Keith sighed and looked back out into the sky that was now glimmering brightly with stars. The sky was painted a blue and red mix, making a beautiful purple as the colors met in the middle of the evening sky. The moon was just starting to rise into the night sky as Keith began to calm down. And then, as quick as the peacefulness began, it had to end.

" _Agh_ ," Keith's head snapped up when he heard a sharp hiss of pain. Following the noise with his eyes and ears, Keith found himself staring at a rock a few feet away from him. Keith craned his neck to try and see whatever was behind the rock, but due to his original lack of height and the tallness of the rock, Keith had no success. "Quiznak!"

Keith jerked his body upwards, ultimately falling off the rock, and landed headfirst into the sand. After Keith managed to get his ass out of the air, he narrowed his eyes at the rock not only a foot or two away from him. Keith got on his hands and knees and put his switchblade in his left palm, careful to try not and get sand on it. Keith slowly crawled to the side of the rock and waited, breathing heavily and attempting not to make very much noise. He leaned his back against the jagged side of the rock and exhaled. This was now or never, and if Keith was lucky, the person or thing behind the rock wasn't hostile. Keith lunged out from behind the rock, knife in hand, and stared out in front of him.

"Holy shit..." Keith looked down, unable to find a person on his height level, and saw a  _person_. No, it wasn't a person. Or, at least, it didn't  _look_ like a person past the waist.

The thing in front of him looked like a normal boy from head to the belly button. He was a tan kid, at least Keith's age or a little younger, with caramel skin and dark brown hair. Now, here was where the weird stuff came into play. This boy, this boy who seemed normal on the upper half of his body, had a long, blue fish tail. And by a fish tail, it was actually a mermaid tail. Keith stared wildly at this... this miracle of nature. Whoever, or  _whatever_ , this thing was, it wasn't human. The tail was glimmering as the crescent moon hit the sparkling tail. On the ends of this boy's forearms were fins, blue fins with lighter blue webbing in between, same for in between his fingers. The very end of his fingertips seemed to be dyed a sapphire blue, and he seemed to be without fingernails. On his tan skin (and this is why Keith was very confused) were shimmering, pastel blue freckles. On the side of his rib cage were a pair of gills, and his ears weren't even ears. They were just fins like on the side of his forearms. 

"What. The. Fuck?" Keith had a hard time finding his breath. It seemed that his lungs weren't cooperating with him at the very moment he needed them most.  _Great_ , Keith thought,  _now even my lungs hate me_. 

The boy's head arched backwards and stared into Keith's eyes. The boy's... The mermaid's eyes were a deep sapphire blue with silver specks running through the irises. The mermaid squirmed and jerked his body all over the place, seeming to be making an attempt to escape the sandy beach he was stuck on. Keith wasn't paying much attention to that though. He was more paying attention to the fact that there was a  _fucking mermaid_ right in front of him. The things of legends, myths, the things that sank whole damn boats, the very beings who were said to drown sailors by singing, one of those things was right in front of him. The mermaid flipped onto his stomach and put his chin in his hand.

"Why hello," he chimed, sapphire eyes glimmering, voice like silk and charming as the devil's, "I seem to have gotten myself a bit... beached? Could you help me?" The mermaid asked. 

Keith's stomach did a back flip, his heart skipped a beat, and his brain malfunctioned. Not because he was the tiniest bit charmed by the mermaid, oh Hell no, it was because there was  _ **a fucking**   **mermaid**_ laying in front of him. "What the fuck... What the fuck even are you?" Keith's mouth twitched as the mermaid smiled cheekily and stuck his tongue out.

"Why, I am a merman, of course~" The mer _man_ said. Keith furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes. This... wasn't a mermaid? Then what the Hell was a merman? Weren't they different things? Well, they were to Keith. A very confused looking Keith.

"Oh. I thought you were a mermaid? You look like one. You know, the tail and everything kind of gave it away." Keith's mouth twitched as the merman made a sound of disgust and brought a hand to his chest, as if to say:  _You've deeply wounded me, little emo child. Now I must kill you with my incredible sass_. And, oh God, did this merman have sass.

"How dare you? I am a mer _man_! A man of the merfolk! Get it right..." he paused for a second, sapphire eyes narrowed, put a finger to his bottom lip, then continued with a shit-eating grin smeared across his face, " _mullet_." 

Keith tilted his head in confusion. He brought a hand to his hair and pulled his bangs out in front of his forehead. "Yeah, I have a mullet. That's not my name, though."

The merman looked thoughtful for a second, doing the weird finger-to-his-lip thing, and smirked. "Then would you mind telling me your name, oh precious one? I do not wish to call you 'mullet' for the short while we know one another." 

"It's... umm, it's Keith. Keith Kogane. What's yours?" Keith asked, completely forgetting that the whole mermaid thing was technically impossible. The merman patted the ground in front of him, gesturing for Keith to sit down in front of him so they could be sort of eye-level, and Keith shrugged. Why not? This was probably all a big dream anyways. Well, more like a nightmare, but who cares?

"I'm Prince Lance of Atlantis, and it is such a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The merman, Lance, said. Keith drew back when Lance attempted to touch his knee. Keith knew about the legends. He knew about how mermaids liked to drown poor sailors who are unfortunate enough to come upon their territory. Keith also knew about how mermaids could apparently sing you into hypnosis. Or was that sirens? Keith didn't know and he didn't care enough to find out. Keith also remembered learning that Atlantis was a made up story and people had proven that. But they'd also said that they'd proven that mermaids and mythical creatures couldn't exist, and yet here Lance was. A flirty fucking mermaid laying right in front of him.

"Yeah, don't even think about it. I've heard the myths and legends about your kind. About how you guys drown people by singing to them or dragging them under the sea. Well, guess what? I ain't going under any time soon. I'll die before I let you touch me." Keith snarled, backing up a fairly reasonable distance.

Lance sighed and slapped his forehead with his right palm. "Okay, listen. I need to get back home before Hunk and Pidge start worrying about me, so could you be so kind as to roll me back into the water? Please?"

"Who the fuck is Hunk and what the Hell is a Pidge-"

"That doesn't matter!" Lance shouted, his voice cracking a tad bit. Those sapphire blue eyes were gleaming with sadness now "I need to get home and you're the only person around!  _Please_!" Lance begged. Keith rolled his eyes and contemplated how to answer. 

He could either A.) Say no and get the fuck away from whatever flirty bitch this was, or B.) Say yes and roll the fucker back into the ocean. B seemed like the best option, just because Keith didn't want to see anyone die, and also because this flirty merman was getting on his nerves. Keith had only known Lance for five minutes, at the most, and already knew he was an obnoxious person with awful flirting skills. Why not just get him back into the ocean so Keith would never have to see him again? It wasn't the end of the world, and if Lance tried any shit, Keith would stab him right through the skull. Pretty good deal, right? Well, Keith snapped back into reality just as Lance started to pull some sort of weird, contorted version of the Puppy Dog Eyes. Keith wasn't great at it either, but Lance just sucked at it, even if those sapphire eyes were luring him into some type of trap.

"Okay, Jesus, I'll help you! Just stop whatever bullshit that is," Keith pointed to his eyes, but Lance wasn't paying attention. Mostly because he was now attached to Keith's chest in the sand.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You are such an amazing human-" Keith shoved Lance off his chest and stood up, brushing the sand off his jeans and shirt. God, if he got to get rid of Lance, this annoying mermaid thing that washed up on land, it was so worth it. It was worth helping the mermaid if he got to shove the obnoxious shit back where he belonged. 

Keith rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and heaved out a big sigh. Keith walked over to Lance, who was now laying like a super model in the sand, and picked him up easily. For being someone who always swam in the ocean, Lance had no muscles whatsoever. Meaning he was very light. Keith was holding him bridal style, Lance's tail hanging over his right forearm and his back laying against his left. Keith smiled when Lance yelped and started squealing for Keith to let him go, but had no muscles so he had to stay still. At one point, when they were so close to ocean that Keith could've thrown him into the deep blue water, Lance fidgeted so much that he hit Keith right across the face. And that was when Keith lost his shit.

"Alright," he said, grabbing Lance's dark brown hair and tugging it backwards so Lance could see into his eyes. Keith was so oblivious when it came to that kind of stuff, so he didn't notice when Lance's tan skin, only the part on his cheeks, turned deep crimson. "If you don't stop fucking squirming, I will stab you right here, right now." He snarled.

Lance whimpered a reply, but Keith didn't pay it any mind. They had come to the shoreline, and Keith knew very well what that meant. He looked down at Lance and smiled a a genuine smile. That was something nobody, not even Shiro or Allura, had been able to make Keith do. Yet this mermaid, or merman or whatever, had been capable of making Keith smile. And that smile plastered upon his face was there because he knew... he knew he was about to throw Lance straight into the ocean like trash. 

"Ready, Prince Lance?" Keith asked, starting to giggle.

"For wha-"

"One..." Keith pulled Lance to the side and swung him.

"Wait-"

"Two..." He swung him in his arms two more times, slowly letting go of the prince in his arms.

"What are you doing-"

"Three!" And Keith tossed Lance as hard and as far as he could into the ocean. Keith heard Lance shriek and saw his arms flail helplessly as he flew through the air like a water droplet, then belly-flopped into the ocean with an extremely loud  ** _SPLASH_**. And that was the end of that.

Keith wiped his hands on his pants and smirked. Lance's head rose out of the water and his beautiful sapphire eyes bore daggers into Keith. "The Hell was that for?!" Lance squealed.

God, he sounded like a five year old. Keith didn't say anything in reply and instead fell to the sandy ground below. He didn't want to go home yet, not after what had happened that day. Well, it was that, and the fact that Keith couldn't face Shiro after the way he'd acted. Shiro had been right. Keith needed to grow up. And saving a fucking merman seemed like the most mature thing Keith had ever done in his entire life. A merman, Keith would like to mention, that never left the ocean while Keith laid there in the sand. Keith didn't know why Lance was still there, just studying Keith as if he were the cure for cancer, but he was. And for some reason, having him there felt more comforting than being alone.

Lance being there with Keith was more peaceful than being alone. And that was, indeed, a great feat for someone to accomplish. Especially when that feat was accomplished with someone like Keith.

 

 


	2. Lavender Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is freed from the sand by an emo boy named Keith, who could use a haircut. Lance finds himself unable to leave Keith's side as he senses that the boy who saved him is deeply saddened. Unluckily for Keith, Lance gets very emotionally attached to people very quickly, so he's not leaving until he finds out what Keith is dealing with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably be posting a new chapter every couple days or so? I'm not genuinely sure yet, but I know that this won't be some sort of story I just leave off in the middle of. This is probably going to be a much longer chapter just because I had to set the mood for the story in the previous one.
> 
> The song is Artist vs. Poet: Kids Again

Lance had always been curious about the surface. He'd been curious about how the dry sand felt, he'd wondered what it was like to pick flowers, he'd wanted to read books and draw pictures. But maybe most of all, Lance wanted legs. He wanted legs so he could run, jump, jog, sprint, walk, and  _dance_. Underwater dancing was nothing like surface dancing, from what Lane had seen. He'd watched couples get married on the beach and slow dance, he'd watched small children dance and sing to one another playfully, and he'd watched Keith, the mullet-head himself, run out to the coastline. Lance had wanted a closer look at Keith, he'd wanted to touch his legs and ask him things about the surface, and he'd sort of gotten his wish after a very large wave carried him right to the surface. God, it sucked. There was no water to swim around in and Lance had been injured from a rock. Of course, that was why he wasn't leaving Keith's side. Just because his tail got hurt. Not because he found Keith the slightest bit attractive. Not because of that at all.

"Hey Lance?" Keith's soft voice called to the merman who had been staring at him. That snapped Lance out of whatever trance Keith had put him in. And Keith had most certainly put Lance in a trance, otherwise Lance wouldn't have been staring so intently. He wouldn't have been studying Keith's body from where he was laying in the sand. No, he most certainly would not have been. "Do you... Do you ever feel alone even when people are around?" 

Lance lifted his body halfway onto shore, that way he was closer to Keith and didn't have to worry about getting beached again. "Hmm. Uh, not really. When you're the Prince of Atlantis you're never really  _alone_. Guards are always stationed wherever you go, servants are always waiting for orders, other royal families are always excited to meet you. It gets really tiring after a while, but I get the feeling that's not what you really meant. Do  _you_ ever feel alone when people are around?" Lance shifted the question back onto Keith, who was now sitting up and staring at the stars. 

"All the time, " he sighed. Lance narrowed his eyes. Why would this kid always feel alone? Then again, he wasn't a prince. 

"What, do you not have family? I've got, like, a bazillion siblings. My mama is always rushing around the castle like a maniac, and my papa never catches a break from royal duties. You've gotta have at least  _one_ family member, right?" Lance asked. Maybe it was crossing the line, but the Prince of Atlantis just had to know more about this boy from the surface.

"I do, and it's not like I don't have people around me, it's just that... I don't know. Why am I even talking to you? You're a  _fish_!" Keith laughed halfheartedly. Lance crossed his arms in confusion. "Ah. Maybe it's because I don't know you and it's easier to talk about emotional shit to someone you don't know. Like a therapist or something." 

"What's a therapist?" Lance asked. Keith looked at him and grinned. "What? I'm being serious, what's a therapist?" 

Keith bit his lip and looked thoughtful. Lanced liked that face. He liked it when Keith told him about surface things. He liked it a lot. "It's like a person who you go to if you're depressed or suicidal or you just need some emotional support." Keith brought his hands up to his knees and stared down at Lance, which wasn't the most brilliant idea. 

Lance then had the chance to notice the pale scars covering Keith's wrists and forearms. He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. Lance pulled himself onto the shore, still being careful as to not get stuck again, and reached out to grab Keith's arm. Keith, luckily, seemed distracted, and Lance was able to get a tight grip on his arm. Keith jerked away when Lance touched him and attempted to squirm away from him, but Lance wouldn't let him. Not now. Not when he'd just found all these scars. The scars of someone who was baring the whole world's problems upon his shoulders. Lance tugged Keith's arm further down to his eyes and examined the small lines. Some were small scratches, they looked like a cat could've done them, but most... most of the scars were as wide as a caterpillar and as long as one of Lance's fingers. Lance traced over the biggest one he could find and brought it to his lips. Lance then tried to kiss every one of Keith's scars, an action that would show Lance how much Keith had been hurting emotionally when he'd done them.

That was a power of the merfolk's. They could see into a person's emotions with any sort of physical contact, a power that was useful when seeing what kind of help a person needed. Well, Keith was a different case. Merfolk most commonly felt grief or sadness or anger for a short amount of time until then their other family members could help them get through it. But Lance didn't sense the feeling of anger or sadness. He sensed regret, betrayal, loss, and guilt, but what had he ever done to deserve these feelings? What had he done to believe he deserved to ruin the perfect skin upon his body? What had he done to deserve his crimson blood to spill out of his arms again and again? And maybe most importantly, what had Keith done to believe that he deserved to die?

" _Lance_!" Keith's shout made Lance almost throw himself back into the ocean. Lance looked up at Keith, a confused look on his face, and gasped. Keith was crying. Translucent tears of agony were spilling from the corners of his eyes and were dripping off his chin and jaw. Lance set Keith's arm down and backed a small distance away. "W-What was... what was that? Why do I... what did you do to me?" Keith asked, his voice hoarse and desperate.

Lance looked away for a moment, feeling guilty that he'd made Keith cry, and then sighed. "I looked at your emotions. I felt what you were feeling each time you did those to your arms. If you're comfortable with it, Keith, would you mind telling me why you always feel so guilty? What happened to make you feel so alone?" Lance's question sounded more like a plea to Keith. 

"Firstly," Keith stood on his feet and frowned at Lance, an action that made Lance back away into the ocean again. "Do not look into my emotions. Don't think you can do whatever you want to me just because you're some magic fish thing." Keith began walking away, but paused just as he was about to go out of Lance's view.

Lance tried to correct himself quickly, but it wasn't quick enough. "Keith, I didn't mean to offend you-"

"And secondly, I don't need to tell you shit.  _I_ saved  _you_ , and yet you think you can ask me personal shit about  _my_ life. I don't care if you felt comfortable sharing about your many brothers and sisters, and I don't care if you feel comfortable telling me all about your mom and dad, and I certainly don't care if you're a prince. If anything, I should call the fucking F.B.I. on your ass for even being alive. Be happy that I'm a pretty fucking reckless and ambitious person, just like Shiro says."

"Who's Shiro-"

"None of your fucking business!" Keith shouted, his fists balled and his head shaking in anger.

Keith walked away after that, leaving Lance with so many more questions than he'd had originally. Like, why did Keith get so defensive when all Lance did was ask a question? And why did he become so mean when all Lance was trying to do was help? And the one he wanted answered most, who was Shiro and why did he say Keith was reckless? Lance was a person who would help someone in need, no matter what species, race, sexuality, or religion, he would help them. It was the only thing he was truly good at. Yeah, he was good at being flirty and getting people to like him, but helping people emotionally was his specialty. But, then again, this was a _human_. A human, Lance would like to point out, who had the temper of a deep sea volcano. But he wanted to help Keith, no matter how angsty he was. He wanted to help Keith feel important and wanted, no matter what Keith said in return. But could he? Was it really even possible? Whatever the answers be to the questions that were racing through Lance's mind, one singular command was the most overpowering thought he had. 

 _Go help Keith_ , the Lance inside Lance's head would say.  _He needs help. He needs you to help him. He's hurting. He saved you, Lance. Now you need to save him. Save him, Lance. Save him!_ And Lance finally got the metaphorical balls to agree with the Lance inside his head. He had to help Keith, no matter the consequences, no matter how much trouble he got in, no matter how much he got yelled at for talking to a surface walker. No matter what, Lance was going to save Keith. But he needed help. It wasn't like he could just save an emo by himself, no, he would need the help of his best friends. And to get them to agree to help him with this situation was going to be difficult, but Lance didn't care. Keith, the human who saved Lance, needed his help, and he was going to help him. Whether Keith liked it or not.

                                                                                                    

Over the past two days, Keith had all out refused to talk to anyone. He stayed in his room all day and didn't come out to eat. Ever. He just wanted to die already. Well, it was either die of starvation or die of dehydration; either one would be painful, and Keith was okay with it. He wanted to die. He wanted to be numb to everything. Keith didn't want to feel the pain of living anymore. Keith wondered what the point of living was if everyone just died in the end anyways. What was the point of living if you were just going to die in the end? What was the point of anything if it ultimately changed nothing and everything stayed the same? 

"Keith, please. I promise I won't yell anymore, I won't get mad, and I won't force you to hang out. Just,  _please_ , come out and eat something. You're going to die if you stay in there," Shiro's words from the previous night rung in Keith's head like a truck of bells. Keith knew his older brother was sleeping on the other side of the door, just listening and crying for his younger brother who he had raised, the brother that would die if he continued to stay in the room.

Shiro hadn't knocked down the door. He hadn't been able to. But he did know that Keith had gone out the window, and he did know that he'd come back some time two days ago. Either that or the window had closed and locked itself from the inside and the air conditioner had turned off by itself. Keith knew Shiro blamed himself for Keith locking himself in his room, and Keith knew Shiro blamed himself for Keith deciding to not come out. But it wasn't Shiro's fault that Keith wanted to die. It was... well, it was everyone  _but_ Shiro. It was Allura's fault for taking Shiro's attention away from Keith, it was Coran's fault for being to pushy and energetic, it was their father's fault for using Keith as a  _plaything_ after Krolia disappeared, it was Krolia's fault for leaving Keith and dying mysteriously. It was  _Keith's_ fault for blaming everyone and taking himself too seriously. It was  _Keith_ 's fault for not being strong enough. It was  _Keith's_ fault for shoving his mother's switchblade into his father's heart after Keith had decided his father had damaged him enough. 

" _Keith_..." Shiro cried through the door, " _please_. I'm so sorry, Keith. Please come out. You're the only family I have," Keith blinked. He moved off his bed, inhaled and exhaled, and opened the door. Shiro, because he was laying on the door, fell onto Keith's floor when the door opened.

"And what about Allura and Coran? You have them." Keith mumbled. Shiro launched himself in his younger brother's arms and hugged him, a hug that promised:  _I love you_. Shiro laughed tiredly and squeezed Keith tighter, almost picking him up off the ground. Keith felt Shiro's tears stain his shirt as Shiro cried silently into the crook of his neck. Keith felt his eyes sting with emotion and attempted to squirm his way out of the hug, but Shiro only held him tighter. "Can't... breathe!" 

Shiro moved away from Keith, hands planted tightly on Keith's shoulders, and looked into his eyes. "Allura may be my girlfriend and Coran may be a good friend of mine, but there is no way, no world in the dozens of alternate universes, no possibility in any timeline, that they could replace my little brother." 

Keith felt the first tear leave the corner of his right eye and he tried to blink the rest away, but Shiro still held him in place. "If you haven't cried at least once in your life, then you haven't lived."

Keith sniffed. "I've cried. I've cried too much for one lifetime." Shiro shook his head gently and smiled a small smile.

"If you didn't have emotions then you'd be numb."

"I'd rather be numb than have emotions. Emotions can go and suck a big, fat di-"

"Language. And, as your brother, I am authorized to say that you're not allowed to be numb. Being numb is worse than having no emotions. Being numb makes you a robot, and I do not want a robot brother. And as for not having a robot brother, you have a stomach, and you need to eat. Let's go get some food. I'll order a pizza or something-"

Keith pushed Shiro and shrugged. "No, I'm fine. I'll eat later." 

"Keith, you haven't eaten in almost three days. How exactly are you  _fine_?" Shiro crossed his arms and put his weight on his left leg while Keith rolled his eyes.

Keith walked over to his bed and threw the covers up, revealing a stash of empty _Uncrustables_ bags. Yeah, he had a stash of  _Uncrustables_ , but he was saving them for an occasion like this. One where he'd have to eat something. And as for water, Keith had that covered too. He pulled a big jug of water out from under his bed and turned for Shiro to see the smug look on his face.

Shiro started a slow clap and chuckled. Keith bowed and smiled. "Yes, thank you, thank you. I am indeed a survival genius. Ah, you're really too kind." Keith held out one of his Uncrustable wrappers and smirked. "I owe this survival award to my older brother who taught me how not to die. And, even if he's an ass sometimes, I love him." Shiro laughed louder and had to put his hands on his knees for balance. He failed at that and fell to the floor.

Keith joined him on the wooden floor, laughing hysterically at himself, and curled up in a ball beside his brother. Shiro sat up and put his hand on Keith's chest. Keith looked up at Shiro, eyes wide and playful, and giggled. "See? I bring out the child in you, Keith. Never take yourself too seriously. It'll destroy you from the inside out." 

"Is that your advice of the day?" Keith asked, now completely serious and angsty again.

"Aww, quit being so mean. You know you love it when I give Big Bro Info." Shiro chuckled and smiled the same brilliant smile he always gave Keith. This smile was reserved just for Keith, it was a smile that Shiro had never given anyone else. It was a smile that Keith's mother gave her young son everyday they were together. It was a smile that Keith's father gave to him when he was sober and kind. It was a smile that Shiro gave Keith when Keith needed support.

"No, seriously. Is that your advice for the day? I need to know otherwise I'll just be a clueless mess. You know me." Keith shrugged and sighed heavily.

"That's my advice for forever. Maybe your older brother is on the same team as you, Keith. Maybe your older brother loves you more than life itself." Shiro stood up and smiled, helping Keith off the ground and hugging him again. "Maybe your older brother would rather give up the world than give up you. 'Cause I do love you, Keith. You're my favorite little brother." 

"I'm your only little brother." Keith mumbled.

"And I'd like to keep it that way. Stay alive, little bro. I'll come and get you for dinner. It'll be just you and me tonight, no Allura and no Coran. We'll watch a movie or something." Shiro ruffled Keith's black hair and grinned. After dismissing himself, Shiro left the room and didn't close the door.

Keith could understand why. He'd almost scared Shiro to death and Shiro sure as Hell wouldn't want Keith closing his door and locking it again. So Keith wouldn't close or lock it. He'd just keep the door open and wait for dinner. Except, Keith didn't want to wait for dinner. He wanted to see if Lance was out by the coastline again. Why Keith wanted to see the obnoxious prick again, he would never know. But Keith knew that he did want to see Lance again, if even for a moment, and wanted to apologize. It wasn't Lance's fault that Keith had felt that way, but he'd taken it out on Lance like had been. Keith felt he had to apologize or he'd feel guilty about it for the rest of his life. 

After Keith convinced Shiro he was going to come back to the house later, Keith began his trek out to the spot Lance had been stranded in. If Lance wasn't there when Keith got there, he would wait for an hour or so, and leave if nothing happened. If Lance was there when Keith got there, he would work up the balls to apologize to Lance, and then leave right after. Having a mermaid friend probably wasn't the best friend to have, but Keith was willing to look past the weirdness and accept the fact that perhaps he could make a friend. Yes,  _Keith_ was considering making  _a friend_ , even if that friend was a merman-type thingy that looked like he was from Pokemon. Keith first wandered aimlessly around the shoreline, kicking up over his toes and staring out over the ocean's waves. Keith smiled to himself as he remembered how Shiro used to take Keith out to the beach every chance he could just to teach him about the ocean and its creatures. 

Keith remembered how little they'd been back then. Just children, ages five and nine, just innocent kids who loved the sun. Back then, they'd lived in Florida with their parents in a big apartment right by the beach. Shiro had been adopted from Japan when Krolia had gone there for the war; she'd seen Shiro sitting in an alleyway beside an orphanage with almost no clothes. Keith had been with her then, but he had only just been born. Yes, Krolia kept Keith with her throughout the war, or just as long as she could anyway, and she wanted nothing more than to help a small four year old child who was living on the streets. Keith and Shiro had been raised as real siblings and had almost never known Shiro was adopted, but Keith's father ended up telling them when he'd gotten drunk the night that Krolia left. Keith had been seven and Shiro had been eleven. It was one of the worst nights of their lives. That had been the night Shiro had gotten the scar across his nose, an experience Keith wished he could forget, but just couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, the only memories he could erase from his mind were the good ones. The ones where his father wasn't an alcoholic and his mother was there in a pretty purple dress on the shoreline, watching their children as they ran across through the sand playing tag. Keith could barely remember those times anymore. He could barely remember anything from his childhood unless it had been traumatic enough to leave a permanent mental scar that would affect him forever. Like the reason he would never swim in the ocean again. 

Keith snapped out of his thoughts when something hard hit the side of his head. Keith rubbed the spot and furrowed his eyebrows and searched the shoreline for any child or adult that could've thrown something at him. Keith then looked at the ground and saw a small seashell. Keith picked the shell up and examined it closely, tilting and turning it so he could better discover all the imperfections of the small shell. Keith turned the shell over and gasped. On the inside of the shell, written on the inside in very neat handwriting, was a note. It said: 

**_Hey. A special someone wants to see you again. Come and find out who by going to the Azure Rocks. If you don't know where that is, and I don't know why you wouldn't, just look ahead of you. You'll find him waiting for you by the coastline. If you don't want to see him again, just throw this shell back into the ocean. He'll understand. If you do want to see him, just throw a rock or something in the ocean, but keep the shell. He'll be happy if you go and see him._ **

Keith had a feeling that Lance was somehow behind this seashell note, and lightly laughed. Keith searched around him and found a decently sized rock. He sighed, cocked his arm back, rock in hand, and chucked it into the ocean. Keith could've sworn on his life that he saw two fins splash in that same area where the rock had landed. Keith pushed the thought away and raced towards the Azure Rocks. The Azure Rocks were basically a huge amount of soft rocks that were dyed a luminescent blue forever. Scientists had no explanation for it, and neither did any other skeptic or biologist the world. They were just...  _there_. No explanation at all, no scientific evidence as to why, and no plausible reason why they'd be there in the first place. It was one of Texas' greatest attractions, but it was completely deserted when Keith arrived. 

Keith scanned the coastline and made eye contact with a very cute looking merman. It was Lance. He had shells and coral decorating his hair, making a crown-like shape upon his head, and seaweed with sparkling gems acting as bracelets on his arms. And on his tail? Oh boy, Keith found pearls and gemstones twisting around his fin, making Lance radiate a bright blue light. Keith had worn nothing but a plain black t-shirt and some black pants with his signature red jacket. In the presence of Lance, Keith looked like a peasant. Maybe that was a good thing. Keith approached the prince with as much grace as he could, which ultimately wasn't much grace at all, and plopped down next to the merman, who jumped and squealed when he saw Keith next to him. Lance stumbled to keep his body on the same rock as Keith, and Keith was little help with him just sitting there as Lance struggled to keep himself up. 

Lance grunted, "Little help here, mullet?" 

"O-Oh, right, jeez, I really don't have any common sense, sorry," Keith bit his lip and stopped talking after he realized that he'd most likely gone as red as a tomato by now. Yeah, Keith was flustered, but only because Lance had made him be flustered. After all, Lance just looked... he looked...  _so good_ like that. All dressed up with all that jewelry and shining like a star? And then just looking that good in general? How could Keith not think this guy looked so cute? Actually,  _cute_ wasn't the right word. Try  _hot_. Yeah, how could Keith not think Lance so looked hot?

"Mullet? You've been staring for quite a while now," Lance was back to sitting next to Keith of the luminescent rock. Keith glanced in every direction other than Lance's eyes, but eventually ended up looking there anyways. His... his sapphire eyes were shining like a hundred thousand stars when Lance looked at Keith. 

Keith shook his head and sighed. "It's nothing. Anyways, I came here to, umm, apologize to you."

"Whatever for?" Lance's eyes narrowed and he arched his back. 

"For... for treating you like trash. I was being an asshole and I said some pretty... umm... what's the word...?"

"Douchey?" Lance asked.

"Yeah!" Keith exclaimed. He had a quick flashback of what he'd said and laughed lowly. "Yeah. I said some pretty douchey things. You didn't deserve that. If anything, you were sort of helping me cope with things that have happened in the past. I didn't have a real good childhood and I guess it's caused trauma? Maybe? I don't really know why, but you make me feel calmer. I... I wanted to be your friend, I guess. But I sort of ruined that, huh?"

Lance grabbed Keith's right hand and held it close to his chest. "No, that's not true at all! I... I was originally by the shoreline because I saw you running. I've always wanted to run like that, to feel the dry sand and rocks rubbing against my imaginary toes, but it's never going to happen. So, since that's out of the picture, I wanted to ask you what it was like to have legs. What it was like on the surface where all the other humans live. But, alas, a sudden current swept me right onto shore and I couldn't get back to the ocean because a rock cut my tail. But you helped me. You  _saved_ me for no real reason. That proves you're a good person at heart. You don't see too many of those nowadays." 

"Did you ever meet a human who wasn't good at heart?" Keith questioned, puzzled by Lance's last statement.

"Well... not  _personally_ , but my friend Pidge... Oh man. Their family was taken by humans, their brother and father, and they weren't returned till after one of the human wars. Pidge says their brother has completely changed and their father is so much more paranoid of the surface. It was one of the worst things to ever happen in our history. Pidge wouldn't stop looking for them, and when their brother and father returned so different, Pidge didn't speak at all for almost a month. We're all fine now, though! Don't worry. Anyways, I would love to be your friend." Lance smiled and his tail perked up like a cat's tail.

Keith's mouth twitched and he tried to hold back a smile. He failed. "Really? After I flipped out on you?" 

Lance shrugged nonchalantly. "Meh. My dad's flipped out ten times worse than that-"

"I feel bad for you,"

"and I've seen humans far more violent with words and actions than you. We may have only met yesterday, but I feel a connection between us two. Don't you?" Lance stared hopefully into Keith's eyes. Keith nodded, unable to face Lance's adorable expression, and grinned to himself. Lance reached a hand out and touched Keith's face, luring Keith back into the prince's gaze. Lance smiled and stared deeper into Keith's eyes. "Such beautiful lavender eyes you have. They look like the night itself," 

Keith shied away from Lance's touch. "Is... is that a... a good thing?" He asked, voice so quiet he feared Lance wouldn't hear him.

"Oh, you have no idea how much I  _adore_ the night's sky. Such fascinating colors of dark purple and blue mixed into a mystical violet, oh, it's fantastic!" Lance pushed himself off the rocks and jumped back into the ocean.

Keith jolted upwards and scanned the waves for Lance's blue tail, but didn't see him. Keith felt his heart sink and, just as he was about to stand up and leave, Lance burst out of the water, leaving only a few inches of air to separate their faces. Keith felt his face heating up and jumped away. Lance looked take aback for a moment, but he shrugged and took his place back on the rock. Keith had to take a minute to make sure his heart wasn't going to explode and his head was going to stay on his shoulders. After making sure everything was in its proper place, Keith relaxed again.

"You scared me. I thought you actually left." Keith sighed and crossed his arms.

Lance stuck his tongue out lazily. "Aww, you were worried I would leave? Well, I'm not going anywhere any time soon, mullet. You'll just have to deal with me from now on." 

Keith smirked and bit his lip. "Oh, how tragic." Lance looked at him with a puzzled gaze. Keith pressed his hands onto Lance's back and laughed. "Looks like you'll have to deal with me too!" And Keith shoved Lance back into the water. Keith fell back against the rock, laughing like a maniac, because Lance had screamed like a baby girl when he'd fallen in. Lance came back out, a scowl tainting his perfect face, and huffed. 

They went on like that, insulting, pushing, and playing just like kids. This reminded Keith of a song he knew. It was a very good song, a song he listened to when he wanted to remember the good times of his childhood. What was it called? Keith let the song play in his mind, only a few verses, and he began to remember.

_But still we laugh, we cry, we fall, we get high_

_Just like we were kids, just like we were kids-_

_And when I, I'm feeling small, you get me through it all_

_Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again_. 

Keith and Lance laid side-by-side on the rock, gazing up at the sky, hands so close Keith could feel Lance's body heat radiating onto him. Lance turned his head and stared at Keith until the mullet-head turned to face him, eyes glimmering like stars. Lance giggled and smiled when Keith stuck his tongue out. 

Keith spoke in a soft voice. "You know, for some strange reason, you bring out the little kid in me. I haven't felt like this since me and Shiro were, like, toddlers." 

"Is that a good thing?" Lance repeated one of Keith's earlier questions with the same tone. It seemed Lance wanted to purposely annoy Keith, and he was truly trying his hardest to be obnoxious, but Keith didn't seem to be annoyed whatsoever. He had the biggest, sappiest, and most childish smile smeared across his face, making him look almost ten years younger. It was like Keith hadn't smiled in a decade or more. Lance knew that was a possibility and decided to smile back. Lance repeated the question, this time no sassy voice or annoying tone, but a regular one that was filled with curiosity. "Is that a good thing?" Keith looked completely serious and genuinely happy when he responded. 

"It's the best thing in the world."


End file.
